' A 




_ J4^: ^:-*^/- 



DISCOURSE 



IN 



C03I3IE3IORATION OF THJE LANDING 



OF THf. 



PILGRIMS OF MARYLxiNO, 



pao>0IM.I.3i AT .-^1. :^T. XATtV R COLLHOB, JIAT 10, X^VS-. 



GEOKGE H. ?\IILE^-, ESQ- 



EM.MI'J'TSLirKU ; 
Frinied ai the " Star (''fficc' 



DISCOURSE 



IN 



COMMEMORATION OF THE LANDING 



OF THE 



PILGRIMS OF MARYLAND. 



,„o,NOVNrE» AT MT. ST. ^.vR^s coLLKc.s, M ..■ 10, 1847. 



BY 



GEORGE H. MILES, ESQ. 

C/» EMMITTSBURG : 
Printed at the " Star Officer 
1*847. 



U. S.A, 




4- 






4- 



Mt, St.Mcmjs College, May lOth, 1847. 

George H. Miles, Esq., 

Dear Sir : — The Students of Mt. St. Mary's Col- 
lege, highly gratified by the able and eloquent Oration which you have delivered be- 
torc them, beg leave, through us their Comcaittee, to tender you their thank?, and so- 
licit a copy for publication. 

Respectfully, 

your ob't servants, 
WM. GEO. READ, 
JAMES E. GOWEN, 
^ JOHN M. TIERNAN, 

LAURENCE M'CLOSKEY, 
H. CHATARD SCOTT, 
MARSHALL M'lLHENNY, 

Co.>t.'mTT££. 



Mt. St. Marys College, May lOth, 1847. 

Messk!!. "\V'm. Gr.o. Kevd, 
.Tamks E, (jowkx, 

JOHX M. TlKKJTAN, 

Laurkxce M'Closket, 
H. Chxtari) Scott, 
Marshall IVriLiiKX.NT, 

Committee. 

Gr.XTLliME.N, 

I send you with this a copy of my remarks, and, most grateful for 
your kindness, renmiti 

"i'our obedient servant, 

GEORGE H. MILES, 



Not many years ago, the Pilgrims of Maryland were permitted 
to sleep uncommemorated even by those, who trod the very soil that 
had been tlie cradle of the infant colony : but they are no longer un- 
sung and unrevered. Though we learned as soon as we could read, to 
admire the Puritan and to sympathize with him in all his struggles 
with the Indian, there was no juvenile history to people the shores of 
the Chesapeake with venerated forms. Cape Cod was our first love. 
But this season of apathy is over. The historian whose " first 
fruits "* make us so deeply regret that they are still his last, has 
brought to light the ancient image of our State, long buried like the 
masterpiece of antiquity, — has given us a classic Maryland to cherish 
and preserve. The name of Calvert is prominent in Bancroft's co- 
lonial history, where the peculiar glory of the colony he planted, is 
briefly but forcibly displayed. An altar has been thus erected to the 
founders of our State, You know, my friends, how that altar has 
been enriched with the yearly ofierings of genius and eloquence, by 
some who are amongst us, by others whose hearts are here, and by 
one who has left us in the hope of a better world, until it has become 
a fitting memorial of the virtues it celebrates. I can add nothing to its 
beauty : but we can observe together the rite that should never he ne- 
glected, of dedicating one day in the year to the memory of the Pit- 
GR1M3 OF Maryland. Though there be something of human weak- 
ness in pride of ancestry, there is much of tilial reverence , — a lively 
"M'Mahon's Marvbnd, Freface. 



contemplation of noble actions is a strong incentive to equal exertion ; 
— the memory of the American Revolution, is, next to religion, the 
best guardian of our liberti.s. 

It is not my purpose to enumerate all the claims which the colonists 
of St. Mary's have to our remembrance : we are now familiar witii 
them. We will not dv/ell upon the many expeditions to our shores, 
set on foot by avarice or ambition. Columbus had sailed to discover 
a new passage to the Indies, — Cabot to establish lucrative fisheries in 
the north, — Cortereal to kidnap the Indian ; Verrazzani had discerned 
gold in the hills of New Jersey ; Champlain had scaled the cliff of 
Quebec to secure a monopoly of the fur-trade ; John Kibault of Dieppe 
had mistaken the caterpillar of the St. John's for'lhe silk-worm ; the 
piracies of the " motley groups of dissolute men,* under Laudon- 
niere, had provoked, but could not justify the atrocities of Melendez: 
Ponce de Leon had repaired to Florida in quest of the magic spring, 
whose waters had power to restore health, youth and beauty, remove 
the wrinkle, and re-light the eye ; De Soto had roamed from St. Au- 
gustine to the Mississippi, finding only a grave where he had fancied 
riches surpassing those of Mexico and Peru ; Frobisher had penetra- 
cd Baffin's Bay, and sought for gold i|i the islands of the coast ; Gil- 
bert had examined the minerals of New Foundland and perished in the 
Squirrel ; Sir Walter Raleigh had sacrificed his fortune in attempting 
to impart to the New World the civilization of the Old. But wc must 
abstain from these tempting themes. 

Nor shall we pause to watch the Jesuit missionary under the auspi- 
ces of Mary ol Medici, chaunting matins and vespers on (^ilic northern 
bank of Penobscot, or the Dominican erecting the cross on the Peninsu- 
la, that was wet with Spanish blood, and suffering inartYrdom in liis zeal 

to teach the Seminole. ^ Such instances of Clirislian charity and fear- 
'F.ancroli'ii L'niled fSUlcs. vol. l.paeo (>.'>. 



7 
less derolion, gleam with almost supernatural lustre amidst scenes of 
selfish adventure and reckless ambition. 

I shall confine myself to a consideration of the cwz^scs that led'to 
the permanent English colonization of a portion of the Atlantic coast 
of North America, and to the main features in the history of that colo- 
nization. 

The history of a colony is always so interwoven with that of its pa- 
rent country, that the career of the one can only be fully explained 
by the conduct of the other. Itthus becomes a very important part of 
our inquiry to obtain a clear idea of the condition of England under 
James I. 

" In the fifteenth century," says an elegant and accurate author, 
" England had acquired a just reputation for the goodness of her laws 
and the security of her citizens from oppression. This liberty had 
been the slow fruit of ages, still waiting a happier season for its per- 
fect ripeness, but already giving proof of the vigor and industry which 
had been employed in its culture.t" But a long and disastrous period 
was to intervene before that perfect ripeness could be attained ; nor 
is it certain that the happier season has yet arrived. 

The next century presented a revolution, only second in interest 
to that which overthrew the Gods of Greece and Italy. 

— " The majestic lord 

"Who broke the bonds of Rome," 
as Gray styles the English Blue Beard, assuming an absolute spiritual, 
in virtue of his temporal power, constituted himself head of Church 
and State; thus aiming the first blow at the religion, that had planted 
and fostered the liberty and happiness so conspicuous in England of 
the fifteenth century. Avarice and envy soon plundered the monaste 
* Bancroft's United States, vol. 1, p. 60. 
fHulIamV Constitutioiiiil Historv. vol. 1, p. 2. 



8 

ry, the church, the hospital, the free school, — and a strange fanaticism 
exulted over their ruins. It would require a volume to trace the tri- 
umph of the principles of tlieReformation over the old faith of the is- 
land. The triumph was complete however, and the monk was huftt- 
ed down like a dog in midsummer. 

The spiritual supremacy of Henry VIII was not gained without an 
accession of temporal power, afterward carried to an alarming height. 
The Commons had lost the spirit displayed under Edward III and 
Richard II ; — a " perfidious parliament " permitted the monarch and 
his successors after the age of twenty four, to repeal any act passed in 
their reigns, and gave to all proclamations made by king and council 
and not conflicting with established laws, the force of statutes. *^ With 
a terrified House of Commons and a nobility led on by the baser influ- 
ence of gain, Henry wanted but his father's parsimony to render the 
roy.il revenue independent of parliamentary grants, and to build up an 
unconiroliable despotism.! 

But the intolerance of the monarchy church was not long to be lev- 
elled against the Cailiolie alone. If Luther had disputed at Leipsic, 
Calvin had preached at Ccneva. The reformers had been at some 
pains to tear down an existing system ; but they found it easier to de- 
stroy tiian to create. Like one who unravels some nice piece of me- 
chanism and vainly endeavours to re-unite the disjointed parts, they 
failed in the efTort to restore the unity they had broken. The stream 
of light that once shot upward with such a steady and undivided blaze, 
seemed about to fall like the rocket in a shower of sparks. There 
was fast springing up, in England, alarge class of men who regarded the 
Established Church as but a modification of Popery. They beheld her 
ceremonies with mistrust and condemned them as tending to perpetu- 
iilc Romish sui)er£'.ilion and idolatry. Not satisfied with the extinc- 

•Hrtllnin.ror). Uist. vol. I, pp. I'l, 17. 

;M':'i., fp. '(."). Ifl, And irr U rm\ I'-.^jv on •• : l;- IMiti-h Hincviirirnt." 



9 

I'lon ol the gfrong-holds of Catlioliclty, tliey recoiled from the mere 
semblance of its least treasonable ceremonies. The sign of the cross 
was to them the seal of infamy, — a surplice or a cassock, the livery of 
Satan. They loathed all traditionary forms and tolerated no ceremo- 
hy not expressly enjoined by the written Word of God.* They even 
went so far, as to call Queen Elizabelh's'chapel, the " pattern and prece- 
dent of all superstition. "t But though thus widely differing from the 
fipiscopalian, the Puritan contrived to escape the stake and the rack 
until he became politically obnoxious. Yet he' could not remain long 
unsuspected ; for the State was too intimately connected with the 
Church, not to construe a coarse abuse of its partner info an insult to it- 
self. But the temper of the State-Church was destined to be more se- 
verely tried. 

As Puritanism sprung from Reform, so it quickly gave birth to a bo- 
dy subsequently known as tndependants. While yet'in its cradle, thfe 
child inveighed against its mother for opposing^too cold and feeble a re- 
sistance to the corruption and evil tendencies of the progenitor of both. 
The Puritan was content with a reformation of discipline, but the In- 
dependent deemed it incapable of amendment and required. separation.! 
It was inconsistent with the principles they held in common, to sub- 
mit to the authority of a body of prelates, when, claiming the right of 
private interpretation, they were inspired to reject the doctrines of their 
teachers. These principles were fast gaining ground, and the results 
to which they led began to be dimly shadowed forth to the few who 
• tead the future. It was urged against the Puritan faction, " with 

* Bancroft, vol. I, p. 279. 

tHallam's Cons. Hist. vol. I, 231. 

'Sec HiUain and Bancroft'under the head of Puritan, 

B. 



10 

more or less of initli,*'' thatil aspired to subvert the Episcopacy, anil to 
reiiodcl the civil institutions of the kiiijjdom. liut though the- result 
proves that ihe seeds of civil war were iheii sown, it is iiiiproba- 
hle that the bulk of thfi party sa.v the mighty storm gathering beneath 
the horizon. In IGOl, the Lower House had manifested an inclina-^ 
lion to Pniitanism, and the remainder of Elizabeth's reign abounds in 
specimens of tlie reforming temper of the Commons and the Queen's 
jealous maintenance of her eupren^Hcy. The far-seeing danghter of 
Ann Boleyn discovered the direciiofi of the anti-ceremonialists and es- 
sayed to curb it. "NVhilst the rich learning and eloquence of Hooker 
were employed in combating the theories of ihe adversaries of hia 
faith, his virgin mistress resorted to sterner weapons against the theo- 
rists themselves. Barrow and fireenwood perished with expressions 
ofloyalty upon their lips, and their disciples were compelled to seek 
refuge in Hoilatul.t 

Despised and persecuted by Puritan, Indepcndanf, and Cimrchman, 
the Catholics of England bent over their bitter clialice. All that the 
retaliation of Queen !\Iary had effected, was to render them still more 
odious to her successor. Collectively, ihcy experienced the most re- 
fined cruelty from a co\irt, to whi'jh mercy and truth were stranger9, 
and were deprived even of incidental protection ; fcr to pardon a sin- 
gle Cal?)oIic, was to give mortnl ofience to the Puritan, who was con- 
ciliated even wlicn persec'uteil.: Yet they were cliarged with no trea- 
sonable designs. T.ord AIontLi;.'UC had borne fearless and unriuestion- 
ed testimony lo tiicir loyally. " 'Diey dispute not, they preach not, 
they disobey not the Queen 1" — lie exclaims in his powerful ap- 
peals to the lords. § They had seen their fondest hofies v.itl.er on the 

•llall.jm. Cod:--. Hi.-l. vol. 1, -^'Sl. 
tihiil. ('oi;:^. U:-t. V..!. I. "i^'!. 



11 

scaflold of Mary of Scotland, and yet gave vent lo no open murmur.* 
•' In that memorable year when Europe stoot! by in fearful suspense 
to beliold what should be the result of that great cast in tiie game of 
human politic?, what the craft of Kome, the power of Philip, tlie ge- 
nius of Farnese could achieve against the island Queen with her 
Drakes and her Cecils, — in that agony of the protcslant faith and Eng- 
lish name they stood the trial of their spirits without swerving from 
their allegiance. " t Tliey liew from every country to the standard 
of the Lord Lieutenant, and the venerable Lord Montague broucrht a 
troop of horse to the queen at Tilbury commanded by himself, his 
son, and grandson. But neither uncomplaining submission, nor cou- 
age, nor patriotism, that, superior to the scavenger's daughter 
and the dungeon, to insult and wanton spoliation, had rushed to the 
seashore when the terrible Armada came on, could soften the stern, un- 
sparing bigotry that demanded their extermination. There was not 
one generous pulse to stay the hand that crushed them, and the work 
of death and confiscation went on more mercilessly than before. 
Archbishop WhitgilVs court of high commission clothed with almost 
tinlimited powers, studied to entrap the unwary dissenter and employ- 
ed every artifice to hush forever the uncouth voice of liberty of con- 
science. The cruelty of this tribunal must have been excessive in- 
deed, since Strype and Burleigh, employing terms by which they 
meant to express the height of fiendi?h malice, stamped it as worse 
than the Spanish Inquisition. J 

As the oath of supremacy denied the spiritual power of the Pope,§ 
the Catholic found that perjury or aposfacy were conditions precedent 
to his enjoyment of civil ]irivilcgcs. On the other iiand, it was not 

'Ital'ani, Cons. Hist. vo!. I, '.nO. 
•jlhid. '-'lO. 

. nancioH, vol, 1. '-SfK — Jliillniii, ('on?. lli>t. vol, •'.-.lO. 
\Ut Kli/. d\. ': "all- 'Vni-. !(i.'-f. p. i.'-o. d. 1. 



12 

until ihe Puritan became the Independant, that he refiised^to concede 
nhat the monarch claimed in the oath. There was a wide dilTerence 
between persecuting the Catholic and persecuting the Independant. 
In the first case, it was unprovoked oppression ; — in the last, partly 
defensive. The Catholic, as we have seen, guilty of no political of- 
fence, could not expiate his sin by any political virtue. A deep root- 
ed antipathy to his faith sealed his doom, thougli his behaviour as a 
citizen was unquestioned. But the Independant had^long d-splayed 
that restless and .determined opposition which ultimately] triumphed at 
Naseby. He repeated to the Established Church the lesson her ex- 
ample had taught him, to respect no religious authority but his own. 
Still, the efforts of Elizabeth were levelled, not so much against his in- 
ferior illumination, as against the political consequences flowing from 
his religious tenets. The Catholic sufiered, because he obeyed tlie 
Pope as head of the Church; — the Independaiit, because'he'was a po- 
litical agitator. The acts of Parliament and the Slate Trials suggest 
this distinction. Mayne was hanged with no charge against liim but 
Papistry; — but it was necessary to convict the Brownists under the 
statute against the spreadmg of seditious writmgs.* The statutet was 
an expedient to bring the Independant within the pale ol persecution ; 
lor the temper of the nation required a political offence to justify seve- 
nty to the Protestant dissenter. In the year I08I, we hear the Com- 
mons condenmii)g the casligat.on'of Puritans, and in the next breath 
declaring their willingness to assist in the extirpation of Popery .+ 

But wc have marked, clearly enough for our purposes, the position 
and aims of the religious parties under Elizabeth. It would be a mel- 
ancholy task to explore the anuals of the charnal hogsc kept b7 

•Hallain.Cons. I.'isl. vol. 1^ -^'CU— i;8l>. 
j-3d Elizabc'lh. 
IJallam, ruiis.Ili.f. vul. 1. i;t.". 



13 

this unn-lenling woman, anil listen to llio " never idle rack "-^ creak- 
ing a hoarse defiance to the violated precepts of the common law. 
Her name shonid rathernot be mentioned when men are thns assem- 
bled ; for her nature abhorred tlie glory we celebrate. If the virgin 
whiteness she claimed have no other stain, it is at least red with blood 
far purer than her own. 

You must be familiar with the character of James I, since it is well 
drawn by Ilallam, Lingard and Bancroft, and its brighter side happi- 
ly sketched in the fortunes of Nigel. Forgetting Elizabeth in four 
days, the nation anxiously^ awaited a sign of the future from her suc- 
cessor. The Catholic hugging a/aint hope that he might by chance 
hare inherited the inclinations of his mother: — the Puritan half be- 
lieving that a Scottish education had secretly swayed him to the prin- 
ciples of the kirk ;— t!ie regular clergy confidently tempting the 
approaching monarch with the golden bait of arbitrary power.t 'J'he 
king yielded to the allurements of the Bishops. Then began, in earn- 
est, the struggle between Prerogative and Privilege. The insolence 
of the Court was inflamed by the stubbornness of the Commons, and 
every Iresh stretch of power awakened a corresponding burst of oppo- 
sition. Zeal for prerogative had reached an alarming height under 
Elizabeth, when Ileyle and Cecil insisted that her ability to convert 
her subjects' property to her own use, was as clear and perfect as her 
right to any revenue of the Crown ;+ but it fell lar short of the mad- 
ness for despotism that raged under James. Then, ' tlie_^Barons of 
the Exchequer tore down with savage joy the fundamental liberties 
which neither Henry VH nor his less scrupulous son had dared to 

'Hallam, Cons. Hist. p. "^00. 

■j' " The Bishops hud promised him an obsequioiit-LCss to wliich ho had been little 
accufetoiaed, and a zeal to_t;iihuncc_his [acrogalivc v h'ldi they al'tcrward loo well 
dljplnytd. "—■//«//«;;;, CoHi, Iliil. vol. 1, p, 100. 



■•.4..W. 5 1 

« 

invade. ' ••'I'lie seaports are ihe king's gales, lie may open anJ siiul 
lIiiMii to whom he pleases !■" — ^v■ns the argiiment by which the ina- 
bility of the king to impose a duty without the assent of parliament, 
was answered. Even Raleigh was infected with the despotism mania, 
tniless we suppose tliat he stooped to conquer, and flattered the kinsrto 
induce him to call a parliament. How strange this gallant knight 
could ever have written, — " Tho bonds of sulijects, to their kings, 
shordd always be wrought out of iron ; the bonds of kings unto sub- 
jects but with cobwebs !'*t Bui cries of a fur more alarming na- 
ture were sounded by the Birdiops and the lliglichurchmen. The 
canons of IGIO prescribe passive obedience in all cases to the estab- 
lished monarch.';: " Civil power is God's ordinance," exclaims the 
second canon. § The logic of Cowel supported by the Archbishop and 
approved by the king, enjoins that — •* the king is above law by his 
absolute power and may disregard his coronation oath ! lie may 
break all laws, inasmuch as they were not made to bind him, but to 
benefit the people, and to fetter the king is to injure the people I''1 Hut 
the crowning jiem to this Asiatic servility, was the complacency with 
which the Star Chamber listened to .lames in lOlG. " It is atheism 
and blasphemy," says James, " to dispute what God can do ; good 
Christians content themselves with his will revealed i;i liis word ; so 
\l is presumption and liigh contempt in a subject to dispute what a 
king can do, or say thai a king cannot do this and cannot l\o that."!| 
'J'liese doctrines, which now found in the clergy their warmest advo- 
cates, were the Icgitimalc consequence of the movements of Henry 

'llallai;!. Cons. Hist. vol. 1. 4'r/,l:!l. 

jlbid. :n4, n. I. • 

■.11.1(1. V. 1, lo."). 

^. 'bill. Mime pav;<:. 
' ll.i,!. p. 4:!!', 



in 

VlII. spiritual sUpremac}- once assumed as (levoiopcd fronl Innpri" 
ral power, the crown must have possessed an inlierenl divinity. IJe-' 
fled for a moment : — spiritual rupremacy was made to issue IVoni the 
throne, and thus tlie same amount of authority idaiinod l»y liie Ivoman 
PontilT", beeame a mere corollary to the oauilpotenfe ol' the kin^^ ot" 
England. The liappiness and prosperity ol tlie Inland, the national 
honor and the religion of Alfred, had been sacrificed to cast oil' tlie 
yoke of Rome ; and tlie consistent destroyers now set up a I'opo 
whose temporal power was as great as his spiritual autliority, and put 
no limit to eitlier. 'i'hus, wiih a minisiry straining every nerve to 
sanctify the person of their head, and claiming infallibilty not only for 
ills dogmas but for his policy, England had well nigh forl'eiletl fore- 
ver the name of a limited monarchy. 

It was natural Ibr men who denied the divine riglils of kings, and 
smarted under t!ie tyranny whicli sueh a system is sure to engender, \o 
seek an asylum where its rigor would be sofiened or unfeli. The Pu- 
ritan was painfully convinced that .Fames and his Church were steel- 
ed a<rainst him ; — that to question the prerogative only imped its ma- 
lignity. In 1G08, tlie disciple of Roliinson escaped to Amsterdam, 
where freed from the petty annoyance and stern severity of bigotry, 
he enjoyed the blissful immunity of obeying unmolested the voice of 
conscience. r)Ut there was sometliing beyond tiiis, for which the ex- 
ile sished. The Puritan believed himself the chosen of God, favored 
above all men by the new light poured down upon his soul ; he pant- 
ed for seclusion from all intercourse wiih less favored mortals, and 
longed to build up a Church State to shine as a beacon-light to tho 
world, wlierc none hut the clean and godly might minister. The 
:'\lavnowcrleft Southampton in September 1030 : in sixty-three days 
she ancfiored in the liarbor of Cape Cod. V»'e cannot trace step bv 
■'Aeu the progre?!s of t!iis rtisohttf; bin 1. or watch over th-j cradh^ of the 



10 
Colony iIkiI grew to llio Stale ofMnsPacliuseltP. Tliis has been done 

hy a liistorian, who bronoht to the task, learning, acutene=s, sagaci- 
ty — and a burning enthusiasm. As we read the ovnato and elegant 
pnge of Bancroft, we catch glimpses of tlie spirit that interwove the 
Gods with the infancy of Greece and Rome. 

In America, tlie Pilgrim resolved not merely to worship unmolested, 
but to preserve himself uncomtaminated from association with such as 
siiared not his election, lie drew around his retreat a magic circle, 
which none but the initiated might enter with impunity. This policy 
was very different from the 'I'heban treachery of those who rose 
against their brethren at the feast of peace, and butchered before thoy 
bad said " Beware !" The intolerance first displayed at Plyniputh, 
M-as prohibitory and warned ofi' the dissenter : but the movement of 
Henry VIII was a war of extermination against those in posssession, 
and bad to wade through crime and blood to overturn existing institu- 
tions, before it could set a fabric of its own. The one asserted no con- 
trol over their opponents, provided they remained without their sanc- 
tuary — and all within it were of the same persuasion ; the other laid 
Haim to a populous kingdom for its peculiar forms, and thundered 
death to tlie starUed non-conformist, who was then, and for a long time 
remained in a numerical majority. But the Pilgrim soon ^found that 
defection might spring from a cause he could not control, and error 
thill the ranks of the elect within the circle. The spirit of inquiry that 
had struck out the Puritan from'the Churchman, the Independant from 
the Puritan, was not to be confined to its most'recent development. 
Yet it is evident, that tlie colonists looked with some pity upon those 
who entered their New .Jerusalem pure but nfierwanl swerved aside, 
though they showed no mercy to__tho culprit intruding all unclean into 
their society ; since their heretical members were sent away in the 
r.ioa's Whelp, wliiist they h.inir i|,e Catliolic a;id burned the Quaker. 



17 



Such a course was repugnant to the loftiest benevolence or to Christian 
charity ; and conHiols with their articles of faith. They denied to oth- 
ers the right of inquiry, they claimed as an universal gift to fallen huma- 
nity, and banished Roger Williams for preaching the irresistible con- 
clusion from their doctrines, that private interpretation resided equally 
in all. 

It may appear unnatural, that a band of exiles just escaped from 
persecution, should display the very intolerance under which they had 
groaned and protested against. But we must remember, that the Puri- 
tan did not condemn the persecution of error, but the persecution of 
truth. He claimed exemption from bondage, because he walked in 
the paths of life ; but, with singular inconsistency, constituting himself 
the sole judge of truth, he limited the elect to a very small number, and 
held it to be obligatory upon them to extirpate heresy. " God forbid 
that we should tolerate error !" was the epitome of his creed in this 
respect: — " Religion has no eccentric motions ; — better the hypocrite 
than the thorn ; — poly piety is the greatest impiety ; — he that is wil- 
ling to tolerate any unsound opinion that his own may also be tolera- 
ted, though never so sound, will for a need hang God's Bible at the 
Devil's girdle."* These opinions would not only banish the dissenter 
with Japanese jealousy, but surely lead to the aggressive persecution 
of Elizabeth. There was however anoihet element in Puritan intoler- 
ance. They had been buffeted about by the church that had ever prov- 
ed herself the champion of divine right and arbitrary power, until an ir- 
ritation was produced against all who rejected the truths for which 
they had toiled and bled. This disposition to retaliate is firmly root- 
ed m man's nature, and is seen in the spite of youth or the revenge of 
maturity. Instead of being unnatural, its violent impidses will only 

*Bnnrrort, vol. !.f,.419. Bnnvnson's Kevi?w, ISlf., vol. 1 1 , p. 33fi, "Simple 
''..bbler." 



18 

yield to the superhuman voice ofKeligion. 1 have stili less desire 
than IJancrofUo palliate the crime of Puritan persecution, nor have 1 
nny inclination to magnify its infamy. My object has been to exhib- 
it "the tendency of persecution to beget a lundred spirit, as exemplified 
in the founders of Plymouth ; and. whilst admitting their principles if 
carried out to involve results equally terrible, to distinguish their ca- 
reer in America from the despotism from which they fled. I am wil- 
ing to adopt this exposition :-" The Puritans were a body of sincere 
believers, desiring purity of religion, and not a colony of philosophers 
bent upon universal toleration."^ This cannot be unqualified eulogy, 
nor can it contain a reflection upon the Pilgrims of Maryland ; 
for the wrUcr would scorn to insinuate that universal toleration is 
incompatible with spivitual purity.t 
"Bancroft, vol. 1. 1'. aSf). 

tit i« not easv to detor.ninc whether the historian intends to exalt or to c.cusc h.. 
idols. Nor i. this the only instance of .his ambigni.y on thi. point. ^^ e Hnd ^he 

T led? n fiO • "The first band 

follo^vu,, passage in the F.ainhur.h Review. Jannarj , 1.4 < , p. • 

oi settlers .ho went out nnder the charter, seized upon two ministers of the nan.e of 
Browne who professed Episcopal doctrine. ; they were treated as .f they had been 
caiminals and .sent hack to England." Mr. Bancroft makes hereupon tins some- 
what extraordhrarv re,nark-' They (.he Brownes) were bun.hed from Salem, be- 
eanse thov were Chur-hmen. Thus was Episcopacy first professed in Massachu- 
setts, and thus was U exiled. The blessings of the promised land were to be kept 
tor P«r.tan disinters.- It is difi^cnU to ascertain whether Mr. Bancroa n. . ge. 
Ueremabittersnecr at insbrcthren. or whether he adopts their language and s.r. 
onslv believes it an exculpation. The intolerance of the Burhans . evidently 
a stn.ubhng block nt hi. w.v. ll.s reason and better nature revolt agamst the 
atrocmes he describes; bat the narrow prejudices of his people interfere with his 
better judgnieut, a«d induce iiim to frame an unsatisfactory apology for a tyranny 
which, when.exerted agai.ist his f^ivorites, he visits with an honest and vehement in- 
di^nation. The Kcviewer is perhaps too anxicus to toe his motto. Bancroft, 
airou..>out h. character and history of the Puritans, moves along with an Ep.e ..g- 
,Uv ; and we .nust not i-npute to an improper motive an occasional Epic obscurity^ 



U) 

k pcrseculioti had forced ilie Puritan to riymoutli, so it now drove 
the Catholic to St. Mary's. The sufferings of the latter had much ex- 
ceeded those of the former, not solely because the penal laws weighed 
more heavily upon him, but also by reason of the different character of 
his faith. Puritanism frowning down material rites and ceremony, 
asked but spiritual contemplation and the Bible : it could not be de- 
prived of the one, — it had but to stretch forth its hand for the other. 
Catholicity enjoined a participation in the sacraments through the medi- 
um of a ministry : but the priest was condemned to a traitor's fate, 
— the altar lay soiled and prostrate in the dust, — hanging andembow- 
elling was the penalty* for administering the last sacred rites that com- 
fort the soul, when human art, impotent as the royal Dane, stands a- 
bashed and inefficient, whilst the tide of death creeps on. The Puri- 
tan lost nothing but the privilege of worshipping in large bodies and 
of unrestricted preaching : — the Catholic was deprive<l of what he be- 
lieved to be the bread of salvation, and of all that he honored as holi- 
est and highest. 

There was at this time a nobleman at the Court of King James, who 
had recently embraced the much detested Roman Catholic faith. 
From n plain Yorkshire gentleman he had risen to be Secretary of State. 
But the ambition that exalted him yielded to a new-born sense of duty. 
If he had ever prized the honors now within his grasp, they lost all 
their sweetness, when they could not be conscientiously enjoyed. His 
position implied a denial of transubstantiation and an acknowledgmen 
of the spiritual supremacy of the king, and Calvert resigned his seals 
of office, avowing his conversion. James may have looked suspici- 
ously upon the convert to the ascendant for the Church, for there was 
every temporal inducement to the change, but with all his folly he 

He gives the motives of his heroes in the most plausible light, without attempting 
lo justify their sophistry. 

'By 2 Ah Eliz, ch. ", sec. 3, Jesuits and priesti sufTec the painb of high lieat.oii. 



20 

could not impute insincerity to one who perilleJ life and lortune, by 
openly enrolling himself amongst the benighted and persecuted follow- 
ers of the" Romish superstition." Yet, iieitfier the monarch's undimin- 
ished esteem, nor a seat ill llie privy council, could control the con- 
vert's determination to seel: abroad the perfect frcedoni denied hira at 
home. First at Newfour.dland and then at Virginia he sought an asy- 
\uvr. ; but the climate and condition of the island proved unpropitious, 
and the province echoed the intolerance of the mother country. For- 
tunately, he saw the noble Chesapeake with its broad tributaries, and 
returning to England, petitioned Cliarlcsl to sign the Charter of Ma- 
ryland. This precious grant was ready for the great seal, when he 
whose encrsy and foresight had framed it, died at the early age of 
fifty. All that we know of the first Lord Baltimore, indicates a man 
of superior integrity, resolution, benevolence, and ability. Wilson 
may have sneered at his papistical sinning, but his celebrity is neither 
to be sneered nor explained away. Even Socrates had his Aristopha- 
nes and Cicero his Sallust. Nor can we be surprised if prejudice and 
pride of theory have essayed in Germany and France to reduce tlie 
miracles of Christianity to tricks or metaphors, to find one in a thous- 
and a liitlc sceptical of the sincerity of an English peer. 

A lew months after the death of Sir Geoore Calvert, the State of Ma- 
ryland with all the islands in the Chesapeake Bay, were assigned to 
Cccilius, son and heir to the late Baron of Baltimore, his heirs and as- 
signs. The rights of the Proprietary are so jealously guarded by the 
charter, and the prerogative of the Crown so carefully excluded, that 
we must suppose the king to have permitted the Baron to dictate the 
terms.* 

Tliirtcen years after the Mayllowcr had borne across the Atlantic 
the kernel of New England, the Ark and the Dove sc' sail from 

".M'.Maliou's Maiy'.niKl. p. 01, 



21 

the Isle of Wight, and on tlie 27th February ■■ 1033 reached Point 
Comfort, whence they ascended the Potomac in search of a site for a 
colony. The colonists were two hundred gentlemen of family and 
fortune, principally Roman Catholics. The expedition was com- 
manded by Leonard Calvert, the brother of the patentee. Tiie charter 
recites thatCecilius Calvert " treading in the steps of his father, being 
animated with a laudable and pious zeal for extending the Christian 
religion and also the territories of our empire," is encouraged in " the 
pious and noble purpose of the aforesaid Barons of Bahimorc," by 
the grant of the province of Maryland. It appears upon tlie face of 
(he charter, that the conversion of" savages having no knowledge ot 
the Divine Being"t was part of George Calvert's plan. Through 
Father White and his companions, this " pious and noble purpose" 
was faithfully and fearlessly pursued. One of the most beautiful fea- 
tures in the colonization of Maryland," is a zealous compliance with 
the divine precept, — '• Go ye and teach all nations !" — To obedience 
to this imperative charge, Europe owes her preservation from the fate 
of the Abyssinian and the Toltec. We cannot read witliout reflecting 
deeply, the behaviour of the repentant Indian murderer upon the scaf- 
fold, — the baptism of king Chilomacan with his daughter, the heiress 
of his dominions and Mosorcoqucs, — the pious disposition of Anacos- 
tan, — the conversion of the Chief and principal inhabitants of the 
town of Potomac, — and the numbers of less distinguished natives, who, 
easily induced to accept the new faith of their hereditary leaders, 
adorned the triumph of the Cross.J But the progress of Christianity 
was arrested by the Revolution that condemned the form in which it 
was administered to the aborigines, yet made no provision for the dis- 

*M'Mahon gives tlie24tli: Father White's Narrative the 27th. 

f Charter of Maryland, sec. 11. 

iBiographicalScetchcsof Father Andrew White and liis companion!,. B. U. 
'-'amphell, Esq. Calh. Aim. 1841, pp. Li to 68, 



22 

semination of the aniciKk'd religion wliicli conipclled the missionary 
to retreat. The last disappearing red man must have fared very dilTer- 
aiitly, had his conversion to Christianity been always half so eagerly 
coveted as his corn-fields and hunting grounds. Now, in his own 
forcible metaphor, he totters on the edge of the log. Powhatan was 
but a poor prophet, when he said of the pale-faced strangers, " Thev 
hurt you not ! — They take but a little waste land !"* As the scythe 
of civilization sweeps westward, we apply his words to his shrinking 
descendants, whilst our " waste land " is daily diminishing, and the 
Indian and the buffalo fall as we reap.f Inferiority, the curse of the 
[ndian, deprived him of an estate in common with the intruders. 
Christianity alone, could raise him to the standard of fellowship with 
tlic white man, by purifying and elevating the American and by sub- 
duing the pride of the Saxon. Rolfe married Pocahontas, — but it is a 
solitary case, without a precedent or a follower. The Re- 
viewer of Bancroft leaves unsolved as a curious fact, that in both 
hemispheres — in Hindostan and in America — the French displayed an 
acknowledged superiority over the English,in making the natives of both 
regions subservient to their designs of aggrandizement.t The an- 
swer to the problem is given by M. Mofras in his exploration of Ore- 
gon territory and California in these words ; — •' The wooden cross of 
a few religious has conquered more provinces for France and Spain, 
than have ever been won by the swords of their best Generals." The 
Jesuit missionary, and not the superior tact of the Frenchman, made 
the dominion of France more acceptable to the Indian, than that of 
England. It was the absence of the mission and the influence exert- 
ed by its benevolent spirit, that involved the New England States and 

'Bancrofi's UnitcJ States, vol. 1, p. 1-6. 

•j Indian and bulTalo dccieaMng in same ratio, rrciuonl'b Kepoit, 16-lJ, \i. 

■.Edinburgh Kevicw, January, 1847, p. 6U. 



23 
Virginia in the wars which stain their annals. Indeed, a syslcmalin 
conversion of an idolatrous people would seem at variance with the 
genius of Puritanism. The exiles who disdained communion with 
Christian Europeans a little less enlightened than themselves, would 
hardly stoop to solicit the untutored savage to share their privileges 
and election. But as we cannot be surprised that the system 
should not have existed in the north, so we naturally expect to find the 
missionary in Maryland, preparing an Indian grammar, dictionary, and 
catechism, — seizing every opportunity to fit the simple mind of the 
native for the reception of the truth,— making painful voyages up the 
Patuxent in an open boat to instruct the inhabitants of Potopaco, in 
spite of the menacing attitude of the warlike Susquehannahs, — and un- 
subdued by chains and an English dungeon, still thirsting for the sal 
vation of his dear Marylanders.* Such generous d6votion has always 
been the attendant, and often the precursor of a Catholic colony. 

The occupation of St. Mary's by the Pilgrims, was hallowed by the 
celebration of mass, and the erection ofalarge wooden cross. The co- 
lonists were hospitably received by the Indians of Piscataway and 
their regent Archihu, who invited them to eat at his own table, and en- 
joy all things in common with his tribe.t " This confidence was not 
abused. King Yaocomico was protected from the incursions of the 
Susquehannahs, and his lands purchased with articles both innocent 
and useful. Sa kind and forbearing was the policy of the settlers tha^ 
they may be said to have merited the eulogy of the ^Yerowanee of 
Patuxent.t 

Such was the calm and pure beginning ol the Slate of Maryland. 
Her charter was one " of power and privilege to the subject," and her 
career displayed an unexampled prosperity. During the first seven 

*.Sketche9 of Father Andrew White, etc. Cctlr. A!in. 1841, pp. GO, G5. 

jNarrative of the Voyage to Maryland, Cath. Aim. 1840. 

1" I love the English so well, ihat if ihey should go about to kill me, il' I had ?a 



24 

years, nothing occilrred to ret:ml the growth of the infant State. Mr. 
Ar.Mahon has prorlbunceil the history of colonies or nations uninterest- 
ing ; but whoever will consult his pages, must reject his opinion. It 
is true, as he happily expresses it, " our annals want the spice of In- 
dian v,ars ;" but they contain much v;hdlesofne and agreeable nourish- 
ment. Frnissart dismisses an interval of two years peace with the sin- 
gle remark, that it Contains nothing worthy of note, since no gallant 
teats of arms were done ; but as we blame the silence of tlie chronicler, 
we relish the copiousness of our historian. 

I have long detained you from the contemplation of Maryland's pe- 
culiar glory. I now submit it without an ornament, in naked loveli- 
ness. 

The government of Maryland frofn the moment of its institution, 
*' tolerated all Christian churches, and established none." The oath 
ofofllce prescribed by the Proprietary to the Governor, requires lum 
to swear not to molest or discountenance directly or indirectly any per- 
son professing to believe in Jesus Christ ; — to punish any one who 
should molest or discountenance such believer ; — and to make nd dis- 
tinction, for, or in respect of religion, in Cdnferring offices, favors or 
rewards.* These principles of civil and religious liberty emanating 
from theCalverts, were blazoned forth in the act of 1(»49. Under this 
imperishable law, Catholic and Quaker, Puritan and Episcopalian, were 
invited to dwell togellier in peace and civil unity. A happy harmony 
prevailed in the relations of the people to each other and to the Propri. 
etary. The evil genius of the colony quailed before the superior spi- 

in iidi l)rcalh as to speak, I would coiniirui.l the people not to revenge my dcatli ; for 
1 know they would not do sucli a thing exeept through niy own fault." The Indian 
may have overrated his inaynaniniity, but he did no more than justice to the colo- 
nisst. M'.Mahoi), p. I'JC), is. (5. This note contains an appeal that has hecn well 
responded to ; but no echo has yet surpassed the elonuenee of the call. 
■• M'M.dion. p. '^"^G. 



25 

rit of civil and religious liberty. Maryland became the home of the 
victim of Virginia and New England intolerBnce,— her wealth and 
strength increased with every year.—and a printing press, •• that natu- 
ral associate of liberty," was established for the first time in America 
at St. Mary's. I have not commented upon the terms of the oath of 
office, or Upon those'of the act of 1 649 ; nor shall I enlarge upon the in- 
troduction of the printing press. Facts like these speak volumes, and 
require no elaborate exposition when addressed to a thinking being. 
Mr. M'Mahon has well summed up this epoch by styJing it " the 
golden age '' of our colonial existence. 

It is cleaf that no other cause than the enlightened policy of the Pro- 
prietary could have swelled a colony, numbering but two hundred per- 
sons in 1634, to a people of more than twenty thousand in 1668.* 
But it were in violation of history, of the better judgment of mankind, 
and of common charity, to suppose temporal prosperity the main ob- 
ject of the founders of our State in proclaiming liberty of conscience. 
The most virtuous course is often, in the mercy of Providence, the 
most conducive to our worldly interests ; and it is often illogical and 
self-debasing to ascribe every beneficial result to an interested motive. 
Nor let it be said that the Catholic Marylander could not have perse- 
cuted if he would. M'Mahon must not be misunderstood on this 
point. He adduces all that envy had alleged against Catholic tolera- 
tion and mercy suggested in palliation of Protestant persecution ; but 
he does not adopt one particle as his own.t There is no passion in man 
so strong as revenge. We have seen the Puritan retaliating, and we 
made some allowance for the strong bent of unassisted human nature- 
The Catholic of England had suflTered more than he ; yet sighed for re- 
pose, not revenge. Our knowledge of England's critical situation and 
of the behaviour of the Pilgrims of Massachusetts, enables us to meet 
•M'Mahon, p. 222. 
I [bid, p, '^43, -,'44, D. 



20 

the objection at once. The expulsion oi' High Churchmen from Ply- 
mouth excited the liveliest alarm in the bosom of the Puritan in Eng- 
land ; ■■ but the Court did not interfere, and the Episcopalian dared not 
land at Boston. England was too much occupied with the cancer at 
hefheart, to regard the iudisposition of her extremities. Maryland be- 
ing riiore than equally clear of royal supervision, might have persecu- 
ted with equal impunity. The Protestants who emigrated with Leon- 
ard Calvert could have had no love for the established Church, orlhey 
would not have tempted the uncertain sea and still more uncertain 
shore: Virginia was just across the fiver. Besides, in 1638 they 
were nearly all converted to CalhMicity.t It must be conceded then, 
that the Pilgrims of Maryland were open to the same passions and en- 
joyed the same opportunities that prompted and sustained the intoler- 
ance of the Pilgrims of Massachusetts. APMahon has truly said — 
" The fallen and corrupt nature of man is ever warring figainstlhe spi- 
rit, (of toleration) — and il requires all the cfibrts of reason and the in- 
junctions of the gospel, to retain us in steady obedience to its gentle dic- 
tates."! For this reason, we dealt not harshly with the founders of 
New England, — for this reason, we cnnnot sufTicicntly admire the 
event we celebrate to-day. 

]>ut Maryland's prosperity was sadly retarded by the Protestant 
Revolution. I am not disposed to tnrn from this part of our liistory 
as a scene too horrible to dwell upon. It stands out in bold relief 
against the " golden age ;" — we cannot shut our eyes to it or blot it 
from our annals. On this day we owe a duty to our Pilgrim fathers, 
Protestant as well as Catholic. I stand not here as a Catholic, but as 
a Marylander. And I proceed to a calm investigation of the revolu- 
tion, that I may vindicate the memory of the Protestant Pilgrims of 
' Bancroft's llnitei! f?tatc-, p. H M. 

■jSkflclii's ofFailirr AiiJi>-,v Whit.-, olc, (' itli. Mm. 1S41. p. 19. 
■ -M". Mall an, [i. '2-lX 



27 

Maryland and their Pratestant descendants. More rnay be done for 
their memory by discussing this period thoroughly, than by turning 
from it with misplaced compassion. It was partly to explain this un- 
fortunate event, that I dwelt so long upon the condition of England, and 
for which I shall resume the inquiry. 

The apprehension which went so far as to suggest that James might 
deduce his rights '^from the kings before the Norman conquest and by 
remitter escape the shackles of Magna Charta,* had not abated when 
Charles ascended the throne. The edifice seated npon the ruined 
monastery and desecrated Cathedral, was tottering to its fall. Prerog- 
ative had soared too high and its wings were melting. 

Many eminent writers have asserted that the spirit of Puritaniste 
kept alive the vestal fire of liberty which had else expired under the 
Stuarts.t ♦♦ He who is leaping the hedges of custom should be well 
mounted ;" but facts have little respect for fashion. It will appear 
from the hasty glance permitted us, that although the Puritans 
did much to curb the despotic temper of the crown, they were spurred 
to resistance by a contempt of all authority but their own, and not by 
the spirit of Puritanism pointing to liberty. Instead of aiming at equal 
rights, they struggled for individual pre-eminence. They dispensed 
with a regular ministry, but they set up a religious oligarchy. Their 
enthusiasm was too headlong not to be made the instrument of crafty 
ambition, and be moulded if not into State church, at least into a 
church State military theocracy. 

After repelling royal usurpation, the popular party assumed the of- 
fensiveand assailed the just prerogative of the crown. In 1640, the 
Commons, then thoroughly Puritan, passed a law, in the teeth of the 
Constitution, declaring that they could not be dissolved without their 

*Hanam, Cons. Hist. vol. I, p.420,n. 1. 

fBaucroft, vol, I, p. 462, carries this (o an extraordinary excess. 



28 

own consent ; and introduced ami carried on its second reading a bill 
for the utter extirpation of Episcopacy.* In 1G41, the Bishops fell, 
like the mitred Abbots, shorn of their suffrages among the peers. t 
The Puritan dissenter no longer prayed in a whisper, but insults were 
heaped upon the conforming minister, and his church despoiled of its 
superstitious pictures and ceremonial novelties.it I' is written on the 
statute book, that, after the execution of Strafford, the rigor of Charles 
was succeeded by leniency. He yielded again and again. But the 
triumph of Puritanism was beginning ; — it was too late for indulgence 
to stem the tide. Renewed concession provoked repeated extortion, 
until the dignity of station and the security of his seat compelled him 
to tighten the rein. One circumstance that powerfully assisted in 
turning the scale against the king, was his alleged connivance at Po- 
pery and the idolatry of the queen; Rumors of Catliolic plots, of Irish 
rebellion and massacre, were perpetually in circulation. § The two 
great parties paused upon the threshold of civil war, the king mistrust- 
ing the Honse, and the House suspecting the king. At this critical 
point, every member of the Commons at Westminster and thirty 
" peers subscribed a solemn league and covenant to overturn the estab- 
lished Church. The weight of the Commons was rapidly increasing, 
when the attempt to seize the five members gave it an overwhelming 
preponderance. Parliament arrogated all the legislative and judicial 
power, levied troops without the royal seal and finally forced the king 
to the battle of Edgehill. Naseby decided the monarch's fate, and 
the treachery of the Scots brought his head to the block. We read 
the motives of the victors in their endeavor to introduce a perpetual 
parliament.il But Cromwell was not to be fettered by a dictatorial 

*HalIam, Cons. Hist. vol. II, p. 223. Sec n. 2, Cheshire Petition. 

flbid. vol. II, p. 224. 

UhiJ. Tol. II, p. 227 

^^Hallam, Cons. Hist. vol. II. j>. 233. 

;!lbid. Tol. II. p. 318. 



29 

oligarchy, and he betrayed the parliament he had flattered. If the 
power claimed by Charles was great, that exercised by the Protector 
was unlimited. '• No hereditary despot," says Hallara, " proud in 
the crimes of a hundred ancestors, could more have spurned at every 
limitation than this soldier of the Commonwealth."* This was all 
that the spirit of Puritanism accomplished for civil liberty. Its impa- 
tience of control and successful rebellion, revealed a secret to the pos- 
sessors of co-equal civil and ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and taught them 
a lesson still remembered ; but with all the boasted love of liberty of 
those who struck down the tyrant, they found it impossible to build 
up a Republict Respect for authority only when self-improved, 
must vary with the opinions of the individual who bends the knee ; 
and idol after idol is set up and pulled down, as passion or inter, 
est may inspire. A hundred factions split up the party. Leveller, 
Anabaptist, the fifth monarchy man, — all clamored for precedence. 
The Restoration showed how little the spirit of Puritanism had 
done for civil liberty 

But with the Restoration there came no relief to the English Catho- 
lic. The attendant horrors of Titus Gates' plot, that infamous fabri- 
cation got up to stimulate fanaticism, by proffering a shallow excuse, 
*HalIain,vol. II, p. 453. I have only followecl Hallam in his facts, which he al- 
ways gives accurately, and about which there can be no dispute. I have carefully 
avoided adopting his conclusions, lest a prejudice against Puritanism — the embers 
of the former party fires — which he sometime displays, should mislead mc. I have 
no desire to adopt his language, when he calls Knox and his party " the blood-thirsty 
bull-dogs of the sixteenth century ;" (vol. I, p. 189, n. 2,) or when he charges the 
House of Commons, under Charles I, with •' oppression far more sweeping than that 
which rendered the Star-chamber odious." Vol. II, p. 200. 

-{■Hallam, Cons. Hist. vol. II, p. 442. Sec p. 440. » It is not in general ditTicuH 
for an armed force 'to destroy a government, but something] else than the sword is 
required to create one." " The Fapublican r«'tV amounted to a few hundred pei^ 
sons." 444, 



30 

a forTcd warrant for its excesses, inform us how dearly lie stili paid 
for cherishing the faith of his fathers. An implacable hatred to his re- 
ligion was able, when all other means failed, to reconcile the jarring fac- 
tions in England. Though differing in all else, they were united in a 
cordial detestation of Popery ; and the Puritan and Episcopalian, 
throwing minor differences aside, joined hands over the vacant throne 
of James and hailed with loud acclaim Prince William of Orange. In 
consequence of this compromise, all dissenters enjoyed immunity from 
persecution, but Papists and Anti-Trinitarians. 

These convulsions, in the kingdom, exerted a corresponding influ- 
ence over the colonies. It was in vain the Proprietary had preserved 
a strict neutrality between the conflicting parties. The English lan- 
guage was rich in terms abusive of Catholicity, the English laws dealt 
out death, confiscation and banishment to her votaries, and it was not 
fitting that they, who were the Helots in the] Empire, should be the 
masters in the Province. Accordingly, under Cromwell we find the 
government in the hands of parliamentary commissioners, and Stone, 
the Proprietary governor, only saved from being shot by the affection 
of the soldiers, who were ordered to shoot him. Keeping pace witli 
^he temper of the times, the Commissioners urged the Protestants to 
extinguish the Proprietary's claim, because religious toleration had 
existed 'under the proprietary government, and iras incorporated 
ivith its laws and institutions* It may well startle us, that the great- 
est glory of the Calverts should ever have been deemed an offence to be 
punished by the forfeiture of Maryland. Whilst the Commission- 
ers held the reins. Catholics were declared by law to be entitled to as 
little protection in Maryland, as tlicy could claim in England.t In 
1658, Fendall received a commission from the Proprietary, but soon 
announced himself free from any control but his own ambition. We 

•M'Mahon, 208. 

fAcloflG54, ch. 4. 



31 

see how closely these adventurers watched the political current in the 
mother country, by Fendall's proclnmation declaring Richard Crom- 
well successor to Oliver.* In the interval of joy and security immedi- 
ately following the restoration of King Charles II, the government of 
Maryland was again vested in the Proprietary ; and Virginia, always 
royalist, assisted in the expulsion of Fendall, But as the waters of 
exultation subsided, the harsh features of intolerance began to re-appear 
in all their former malignity. In 1675, Charles Calvert, then governor, 
sailed for England, and on his arrival, found himself in disgrace. A 
letter from a colonist clergyman, to the Archbishop of Canterbury, 
had portrayed in lively colors the deplorable condition of the province 
resulting from the want of an established ministry. Tlie fault was con- 
fessedly not with the Proprietary, since the concluding prayer of the 
letter solicits an established support as a necessary precedent.t He 
returned in triumph in 1680, nor could the arts of Fendall and Coodc 
win from him the love of the people. Even when the persecution fan- 
ned by the pretended Popish plot raged fiercest, compelling him to re- 
visit England to protect his threatened title, his departure was general- 
ly regretted by the colonists.^ Calumny had again been busy with 
his name. He was greeted by the king with an accusation of partial- 
ity to Catholics in his official appointments. His answer was a list of 
all his appointments completely refuting the charge, and sliewing the 
military power to have been almost exclusively committed to Protes- 
tants.§ The monarch replied,—" Put all the offices into the hands of 
the Protestants !"— This narrow minded order, calculated to feed the 
torch of bigotry^within the province, indicates that, although the prin- 

. ciple of intolerance existed in the colony, it was developed to a pas- 
*M'Mahon, p. 214, 
flbid. p. 215, n. 38. 
ilbifl. p. 217. 
■ilbid. p. 218. 



35 

fiion and warmed to action by English patronage. The deposition of 
James, in the nature of things, operated fatally against the Catholic 
cause ; and on the accession of William ot Orange, the Catholic of 
Maryland found himself a criminal and an intruder in the laud so pe- 
culiarly his own. 

In April 1689, an association in arms was formed " for the defence 
of the Protestant religion and for asserting the right of King William 
and Queen Mary to the province of Maryland and all the English do- 
minions." The deputies of the Proprietary were compelled to fly, 
nnd the associators entered into the undisputed enjoyment of power. 
'J'lie victors, revealing the partisan zeal by which they had been ani- 
mated, threw themselves at once upon the pleasure of King William, 
and received his royal sanction and a royal governor. Thus, the 
first effect of the Protestant Revolution was to sweep away all the bar- 
riers against tyrannical encroachment, so carefully planted by the char- 
ter, by bringing the province under the direct administration of the 
Crown.* Under Cromwell's commissioners, the Catholics of Mary- 
land had felt for a short time the lash of Puritan animosity directed by 
the Act of 1G54 ; but they were doomed to sufler for a much longer 
period from the effects of a servile desire in their oppressors to imitate 
the High Church party again in possession of the British crown. 
The Act o.'' 1700, establishing the church of England in the province, 
liad been excepted to by the king and sent back with amendments, 
which, being at once accepted, passed into the statute of 1702, ch. 1. 
This amended Act simply declares, that the course of Maryland's reli- 
gious legislation shall be governed by the example of the mother 
country. Two years later, a bolder tone was employed ; and the Act 
of 1704 expressly aims at the prevention of the growth of Popery, and 
provides for the prosrruliou of all priests found in the discharge of 

'M'Mjluni. p. 'Ml. 



33 

their spiritual functions. A subsequent provision of the December 
session of the same year, with more generosity permitted a priest to offi- 
ciate in a private family of the Roman Catholic communion. In 1715, 
this harshness put forth a viler feature, and it was enacted, that the chil- 
dren of a Protestant might be taken from a Papist mother, and 
placed where they might be securely educated in the protestant reli- 
gion. The act of 1716,ch. 5, excludes Catholics from all offices of trust 
and profit, by requiring from the candidate a denial of transubstantia- 
tion. In 1718, Catholics were rendered incapable of giving a vote in 
any election for delegates, without having first renounced their faith 
by swallowing the odious test which they regarded as a corsned sure 
to work a spiritual death. The fourth chapter of the same year re- 
peals all former legislation against the growth of Popery, — but adopts 
the full measure of 'English severity. The recital of this statute al- 
ludes to disputes caused by a suspension of some mitigatory clauses in 
preceding acts, " until her late Majesty's further pleasure should be 
declared and signified therein." The terms in which the law is con- 
ceived, indicate a strong wish to commit the odious task ofdisfran" 
chisement and exile, to the more practised hand of the island parent. 
It concludes by consigning papists to the " good provision made for 
them by the 11th and 12th William III, ch. 4," with this monstrous 
admission, that — " An Act of Assembly, of this province, can in no 
way alter the effect of that statute."* The extremities to which the 
Catholics of Maryland were reduced by the incorporation of the Uth 
and 12th William III, ch. IV, with the colonial code, will appear by a 
reference to its bitter provisions.! 

*]VrMahon,in commenting on this passage, says : — This admission of the supre- 
macy of the legislative power of parhament in matters oiinternal regulation, is a no 
velty in the legislative records of Maryland, p. 245, (n. 13.) 

jThe following is a brief abstract of the statute. It ofldrcd a reward of X' 100 for 
the apprehension of a Popish Bishop, priest, or Jesuit, and prosecution of the same' 



34 

It is almost nmusing, at this day, to watch the polic)' pmsucd witii 
respect to Irish Catholics, beginning with an impost of twenty shil- 
lings per poll on negroes and Irish papists imported into the province. 
Irish protestants came in duty free, by a kind of incidental protection. 
A later act repeats the imposition : — still later it is raised to six pounds; 
Irish papists appear to have been looked upon with peculiar horror : 
they were not only slaves to Rome, but what was nearly as bad, friends 
to James II. They had a double title to contempt. No less than 
twelve acts, in the space of sixteen years, were levelled against their 
entering Maryland. They were lumped with negroes and liquor, and 
subjected to a most scorching tariff. But, like the wheat-fly, they 
showed themselves in spite of every precaution ; and the legislator, in 
despair, at last prevented owners of vessels from shipping them.* But 
whilst the Irish Catholic was forbidden our coast, and the Indian forc- 
ed still farther back — still farther back — the branded convict was wel- 
comed to the shores of Maryland, and permitted to amalgamate with 
the ordinary population.! 

In vain we seek a cause for the Protestant revolution in the conduct 
of the'Catholic Proprietary. He was a Catholic : — that was his only 
offence. I We have seen the emptiness of the charges'preferred by his 
warmest opponents, who in recounting his sins, unconsciously enume- 

until he or they be convicted of saying mass. It maJe_ the penalty forsajlng mass or 
exercising any other priestly function, except in theliousc of a foreign minister, per- 
petual imprisonment. The same fate impended over any ono making profession of 
ihe Popish religion, who taught school or undertook in any way the government or 
cddcation of youth. The papist was disabled from taking land t^y purchase or dc- t 
scent. The Catliolic parent could not send his son to foreign parts to ohtain the 
Cathohc education denied him Bt Iiomr-, under a penalty of £100. 

*See Acts 1704. ch. 0:5: ITl.'i, ch.:3fl : 1710, ch.G: 1717, ch. 10 : 17'20,ch. 20. 

jM'Midion, p. ~['2. (ii. '2.) 

ni.iid. p. -.i'^t;. 



35 

rated his virtues. The articles of grievance do not charge the Proprie^ 
tary witli a single act of intolerance and oppression.* In 1701, when 
called upon for objections to his government, the colonists have none 
to offer,! If the party spirit of his times could not fix a stain upon 
his reputation, it is impossible at this day to question Charles Calvert's 
integrity. His proprietary rights were wrested from him without a 
hearing and without judicial sanction. The king contented himself 
with the opinion of Lord Holt," whose high character as an impartial 
and inflexible judge cannot shield him from the suspicion of having 
here yielded his judgment to the royal will, "J or to his own prejudice. 
We must seek the cause in England : — the Protestant Revolution was 
but the throe of the earthquake there. By comparing the province 
\vith the mother country, we see the intolerance of the one awakened 
by and following with emulous footsteps the path of the other. It is 
the jackall stealing behind the lion, The destruction of what had been 
the birth-right of every Marylander — Liberty of conscience, — the sur- 
render of the highest civil privileges wested by the charter, — and a 
complete dependence upon the crown, mark the period of this Revolu- 
tion. It is a pleasure to acquit the Protestant Pilgrims of Maryland of 
all participation in the ignoble game. If many, whom the Proprietary 
had taken to his bosom, turned upon him like the asp when they re- 
covered the power to sting,— fAe?/ were not of the number. Coode, 
Cheseldine, and Jowles, the leaders of the Association of 1689 were 
reckless adventurers and not part of ihe old Protestant stock of the 
province. The first was afterwards convicted by the government he 
had helped to seat, of calling religion a trick and asserting that all the 
morals worth having were contained in Cicero's Ofilces. The secomj 

M'Mahon, p. 231. 
jlbid. i-. 269. 
[Uk\. 242, n. 2. 



36 

was dismissed from a lucrative office for carelessness and negligence.* 
It is evident from the most cursory review of the fuels, that the Protes- 
ant Revolution was schemed and conducted by a body of adventurers 
from England and Virginia, who brought into Maryland the prejudices 
of the times, and perceiving themselves thirty to one of ihe adherents 
to the creed of the Proprietary, resolved to cast off a degrading yoke so 
lightly imposed, so feebly riveted : — and that fear of England paralys- 
ed opposition. The Act of 1718, ch. 1, sec. 3, recites that papists 
still increase and multiply, and that great nnmbers of others adhere to 
and espouse their interests in opposition to the Protestant establish- 
ment. In this generous opposition, we recognize the descendants of 
those Protestants, who emigrated with Leonard Calvert — who, though 
professing another faiih, had caught a portion of the splendour of 
Catholic liberality, and claimed for the Catholic in bondage, the privi- 
leges he had extended to all in his hour of strength and freedom. 

The province withered under the royal administration fastened on it 
by the Revolution. Its population had increased but five thousand in 
eleven years.f At the restoration of the proprietary government to 
Benedict Leonard Calvert, it had dwindled down to a feeble and de- 
pendent settlement, trammelled in its trade, limited in its resources, and 

humble in its aims. J 

Here our review of Maryland's colonial history must end. We in- 
dulged in no eulogy of her early liberality, — we shall abstain from all 
comment upon her subsequent intolerance. I regret that the limited 
compass of this sketch will not permit us to follow the career of our 
State from the expiratation of the royal government to the time when 
Charles Carroll, excelling the brilliant example of Lord Montague 
when he spurred to meet the Armada, snatched from his country the 

•M'Mahon, 238, n. 9, 
flbi-d 274. 
ilbiJ. p. -:7C^. 



37 

imperishable honor she gladly yielded, though her pettiest dignities 
had been denied him, and broiiglit an untarnished name and " a cool 
million" to uphold the declaration of Independence. 

There were two incidents which I wished to display in all their 
bearings : — the establishment of civil and religious liberty, and its over- 
throw. To accomplish my first purpose, it was necessary to describe 
the exact position of the Catholic founders of Maryland. This could 
not be done without exposing the religious difficulties that were hurry- 
ing England to civil war. The history of that country from the de- 
struction of the monasteries to. the expulsion of James, is a mystery, 
without a clear knowledge of the doctrine and practice of Puritan, 
Hi<yh Churchman, and Catholic. I also desired to convey the peculi- 
ar glory of Maryland, and I drew the pilgrim of Plymouth. If the 
fathers of Massachusetts lose by the contrast, the fault is their own. 
I have neither sneered at their singular austerity, nor taunted them with 
the abandonment of Miantonomah to Uncas and the extermination of 
the Pequods : but I have endeavored to explain the cause of their infat- 
aution. It is always well to take as a measure of excellence, that which 
is considered admirable. I therefore brought the Puritan in all the 
tints with which the epic eloquence and filial fervor of Bancroft invest 
him, and stood him beside the old Marylander adorned only by a plain 
and brief narrative of his actions. V/ho, or what is to blame, if the 
former shrink to a pigmy ! — He failed not in fortitude and reliance 
upon Providence, but he lacked the charity to man, that hovered like 
an angel over St. Mary's. 

To explain the Protestant Revolution, I was obliged to resume the 
thread of England's religious history. In this way I could best clear 
the Protestant Pilgrims of Maryland from the reflected disgrace in 
which they are apt to be involved by the Revolution. 

If an outline of the eflorts of the two great parties that struggled for 
the throne of the Stuarts, should seeui unfavorable to cither, the hill 



:i8 



picture will appear a malignant satire upon both. But it will not do to 
shrink from truth, because the tale she tells might befit the mouth of bi- 
gotry. The subject to which I invited your attention, has been much 
misrepresented and is little understood. It must be mastered, or the 
colonization and development of our State remain an enigma or lose 
halfiheir interest. I have but suggested what you will find most in- 
structive to study ; for the important and complicated results of two 
centuries cannot be condensed into a fe\v pages. Still, I fear I have 
fatigued you. But you must have beheld, with more or less of interest, 
the Pilgrims of Maryland practising in England the sweet maxims of 
Lactantius, — '* Defendenda enim est Religio, non occidendo, sed mo- 
riendo ; non sasvitia, sed patientia ; non scelere, sed fide :" — and at 
old St. Mary's, breathing the remainder of that divine passage into 
their legislation, •' ilia enim malorum sunt, hxc bonorum. El ne- 
cesse est bonum in religione versari, non malum. Nam si sanguine, 
si tormcnlis, si malo, religionem defendere velis, jam non defendetur 
ilia ; sed polluetur atque violabitur. Nihil tam voluntarium quam re- 
ligio ; in qua si animus saerificantis uversus est, jam sublata, jam nulla 

est.''* 

The glory of the Pilgrims of Maryland is a happy subject for decla- 
mation ; but after accepting your invitation to appear here to-day, I 
found the ground pre-occupied. I could oiler nothing, that would not 
look poorly besides the garlands already woven, and 1 chose rather to 
weary you by long digre.^sion, than to tax you with inferior repetition. 

*Lactantii Divina. Institulioncs. Lib. V, C. XX. " Religion is to be dclenJcd, not 
by killing, but l>>- dyi..g ; "ot by cruelty, but by endurance ; not by crimes, but by 
'ailh :-lho«e bdlt ll.e wicked, these the good. And in religion good, not evil mu.l 
ho found. For if by blood, by torture, and by evil you wi.li to defend religion, «l>e 
^vill nol be defended ; but xvill be dctlled and i.rofa.ad. There i. nothing so purely 
NoluuKuy a. Kcli^iou ; in which if the will do no conceal to tlu act of .acrilicc. relr 
iiion is j^onc; it exists no lougci.' 



39 

i am aware that feeling rather than jaJginent iliroctcil youi choice", 
when it fell on me ; and I rejoice that it was so. I am so much at- 
tached to this dear Mountain College, that I prize every token of her 
love more than the proudest literary honour in her gift. I would as soon 
forego the future, as forget the nine years tliat were spent here. This 
is not an empty exclamation. When yon return some years after the 
relations of master and scholar were ended, and find the hands that 
cherished your childhood still proffering a pure friendship to your 
manhood, and the smiles that cheered the ruggedness of the Grecian, 
or Latin, or German muse, inviting you with undiminished sweetness 
to come and linger in this delightful retreat, — when the unfailing care 
that kept "the raised ken of youth" fixed on the world above the 
stars, still points to 

" The lure which Heaven's eternal King 
Whirls in the rolling spheres ; — ''Dante Purgatory, 
then will you feel as I now do, that the language of affection we em- 
ploy when speaking of our " Mountain Home," but feebly expresses 
the love that burns in the heart. 

I have detained you too long, and now leave you to continue the ce- 
lebration of the day, as the impulses of your hearts may more happdy 
and joyously suggest. 




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